Lorraine Heath (36 page)

For half a century, he had stood straight and erect against all obstacles that man, nature, or he, himself, had thrown in his path. Only recently had his shoulders begun to slump forward, only recently had he taken on the hated mien of defeat. Regret could do that to a man, had done it to him. Swallowing his pride, ignoring the bitter taste it left deep within him, he straightened his spine with increasing difficulty and prodded his horse forward.

The squeal resounded and echoed throughout the barn as two tiny legs churned in an attempt to escape the encroaching predator. The small boy got as far as the barn door before his father’s large hands came around him, tossing him up, turning and catching him. The boy’s arms tightened around his father’s sturdy neck.

“I love you, Pa!” Jacob said in the sweet lilt of a child who knows nothing but love and security.

“I love you more,” the tall man said, and Jacob shook his head vehemently, separating his arms from their secure position and throwing them back.

“I love you to here!”

“And I love you.” The boy felt the hold on him loosen and he threw his arms back around his father’s neck before the hold tightened again. “Enough not to let you go,” Jake said as he began walking towards the house, stopping short as he caught sight of the man sitting astride a grand stallion.

Each man studied the other, past words, past actions, past feelings, bringing forth a tidal wave of emotions until finally Jake spoke.

“Mr. Anderson.”

John Anderson nodded, uncomfortable with the way he’d treated the man, a feeling he had seldom found himself confronted with in the past. He cleared his throat.

“I’d heard hard times had hit the ranchers of this state. I … I wanted to make sure Rebecca was not suffering because of it.”

“We were fortunate,” Jake said.

“Fortunate, hell! Fortune had nothing to do with it. I’m not a fool, boy. I’ve ridden across this land of yours. I’ve seen the barbed wire that kept your cattle from ending up in Oklahoma frozen to death like so many others. I’ve seen your fields of hay that give you fodder for the beasts. I’ve seen your windmills drawing water out of the stingy earth.” John’s face relaxed somewhat when he had finished the tirade. “You have an innate ability when it comes to ranching.” He gave a curt nod. “That was the reason I asked you to marry Rebecca.”

Jake smiled. “Reb’s inside the house. I’ll tell her you’re here.”

He strode across the yard and set Jacob down on the porch. The boy hunkered down by the post watching the white-haired man dismount rather slowly, he thought, for a man. His pa never got off a horse that slow.

John held the reins in his hands, studying the boy who was studying him. Even if Rebecca hadn’t told him who had sired the boy, he would have known. The raven-colored hair, the deep blue eyes that for one so young were remarkably penetrating. John had been surprised to see the obvious affection Burnett showered on the boy, he himself knowing he could never bring forth those feelings for another man’s child, wondering how Burnett did. And then the obvious hit him, the reason the man hadn’t blinked an eye at the thought of marrying a pregnant woman. He couldn’t sire his own. He wondered if Burnett were only sterile or if he were impotent. Impotent. Dear God, his passionate daughter chained to impotency. He never should have tried to rule her life.

Rebecca dropped the last of the items into the second of two baskets resting on the table. She leaned back as her husband’s arms enfolded her and his lips pressed against the sensitive spot behind her ear. She turned, putting her arms around his neck in the same manner as her son had only moments before, her mouth welcoming the sweetness of his kiss, the flames of desire lingering after the kiss had ended. She searched his eyes as his fingers trailed lovingly up into her hair.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, for the first time uncertain of the emotion he carried in his eyes.

“Your father’s outside.”

“My father?” Rebecca felt her heart pounding in her chest as it moved slowly up to her throat. She forcibly swallowed, breathing deeply to still her trembling. Her father’s heated words still tore at her heart, after all this time still able to hurt her. “I hope you told him he wasn’t welcome here.”

“No, ma’am. I didn’t.”

“You’re too tender-hearted, Jake Burnett.” Rebecca removed her apron, shoving herself away from her husband with determination. “I’ll be happy to tell him,” she said as she stormed out of the house.

Reaching down into the second basket, a smile spreading across his features, he picked up his three-month-old son, brown eyes delving into brown. How any woman could be so thrilled to see a child coming into the world looking like Jake, Jake could not fathom, but Rebecca had. And the first time the boy had smiled, Rebecca’s heart had swelled to overflowing with joy as only one side of his tiny mouth tilted up. Shaking his head in wonder even now with the realization that his wife truly loved him, he nestled his son into the crook of his arm.

“Come on, Zach. As hard-hearted as your mother sounds, I imagine you’re going to be meeting your grandpa before this day is over.”

Squinting against the sun, Rebecca stepped out onto the porch, her fists clenched as tightly as her heart. She looked towards the man, whose blue eyes sought hers. “He looks so old,” she whispered as she ran off the porch, straight into his arms.

“I’m sorry, girl,” John said through a thick voice. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right, Daddy,” Rebecca whispered hoarsely, the tears washing down her cheeks.

“I’ve missed you, girl. Lord, how I’ve missed you.” John leaned back, taking a swipe at his eyes. “Got some dust in my eyes when I was riding,” he said. “I brought a present for the child. This tiny horse over here. He won’t get any bigger.”

“And which child is this horse for?” Rebecca asked.

“Hell, girl. Are you trying to be difficult? It’s for the boy you had.”

“Which one?” she asked.

“Which one? Hell, the one hunkered down over there.” John turned and pointed his finger towards the porch. His eyes widened at the sight of Jake holding a child in one arm, his other arm holding Jacob close against his side.

“You got two?”

“We have two.”

“Both boys?”

“Both boys.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.” He studied his daughter. “You’re happy, aren’t you, girl?”

“I’m very happy,” she said. “We were just getting ready to go on a picnic. Will you join us? It would give you an opportunity to get to know your grandsons.”

“Grandsons,” he whispered. “I’ll be damned. Hell, yes, I want to join you.” And then he winked at her and a smile she hadn’t seen since that fateful night crept over his face. “How else can I teach them what they need to know about ranching?”

Coating the small hill in blue, the bluebonnets had burst forth in abundance despite the winter snowstorm and the absence of water the year before. John led the small pony around the tiny pond while Jacob held on tightly to the pommel the way his father had shown him. Zach lay comfortably in the crook of the old man’s shoulder, listening to his grandfather’s resonant voice as he recounted a tale about his daughter’s first experience with a horse. John glanced over his shoulder wondering where his daughter and her husband had disappeared to, and then chuckling to himself, he turned his attention back to his grandsons.

Nestled among the bluebonnets, Rebecca sighed as Jake’s lips left hers to follow a familiar trail along her throat. A cool breeze wafted across the land stirring to life all that surrounded them. She opened her eyes to watch billowing white clouds glide across the blue sky. Her father’s appearance had forced her to think about things she had repressed for so long, so many things she had often wondered but not dared to ask.

“Do you ever wish, Jake, that you had been the only one?”

Slowly, Jake lifted his head to gaze down on her.

“I mean … do you ever wish there had been no man before you?” She watched the emotions light across his features, almost as though they played tag with one another.

“No,” he replied in all honesty: He removed from her face the stray strands of hair that the gently blowing wind had toyed with. “I could never have given us Jacob. And as odd as it seems, Jacob gave me you.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as the truth of his words touched her heart.

“I love you,” she whispered just before his mouth returned to reclaim hers.

She knew they would return to this hillside at another time when her father’s voice wasn’t being carried on the wind and her sons’ laughter wasn’t filling the air. Zach had been conceived here among the bluebonnets on a warm spring day, and in the years to come, other children would follow. But for now, Rebecca was content to lie in Jake’s tender embrace until it was time to return home.

Without thinking, Jake reached out, his knuckle catching the solitary tear as it began to trail down her cheek. “I swear if you married me, I’d do everything I could to make sure you never regretted it.”

“And what about you? What if you regret it?”

He gave her a small smile, shaking his head. “I won’t regret it.”

Rebecca studied the rugged contours of Jake’s face limned by the light of a full moon. A lifetime. A lifetime with this man. To accept now that Brett wasn’t coming back or that if he did, it would be too late. She swallowed her uncertainty, giving him a smile in its place.

“I’d be honored to become your wife and go with you to Texas.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” she said without hesitation.

Watching her stroll towards the house, Jake felt as though his heart would break out of his chest. That beautiful woman was going to be his wife.